Sunday debate: Buying a mid-ranger every year vs. a flagship every other one
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- 124C4+1
- X%0
- 27 May 2018
Buy a flipphone and use it till batteries are unavailable, go Samsung E715!. Primary is a R5+
- T
- Trump Fan 1980
- kui
- 27 May 2018
Note7 owner, 27 May 2018Getting a last year flagship for the cost of current mid ra... more Got that right. I have window shopped/ browsed a Samsung S8 Plus with 6gb ram and 128 rom a number of times this year.
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- Sanjay
- U{k
- 27 May 2018
Mid-range devices will not offer p3 displays, hdr displays,faster LTE speeds, and a camera like iPhone x what about that
- K
- Kangal
- uCX
- 27 May 2018
The problem with midrange devices is always the budget of the components.
Sure, it is FREE for the OEMs to simply copy-paste the hardware design, and software UI from their flagship to their midrange devices but there are certain things they cannot shave costs: Firstly Storage, Secondly Cameras, Thirdly Processors and Forthly Screens.
So what we have is that midrange devices have "hit a plateau" where they cannot get better than 64GB of UFS storage, IMX386 camera units, Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processors, 2160 x 1080p AMOLED screen and maybe some ingress splashproof resistance. Now, if you had a device like that which had Clean Stock Android and the latest build 8.0 Oreo it really wouldn't be "bad" in any stretch of the imagination.
However, most midrange devices are NOT like that. Instead you are looking at 32GB of eMMC 5 storage, a random OmniVision Dualcamera setup which has poor performance (looks good on spec sheet/buzzwords for ads), a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor, a 1080p LCD-IPS screen, no ingress protection whatsoever, and an AndroidOS that is one major revision behind (8.0 when 9.0 is here in 2018).
Now let's take it to something tangible like the 2018 Nokia 6 compared to a Samsung Galaxy S7. The QSD 820 version, even when underclocked, seems to have equal efficiency yet a much much faster operation. I mean, even the QSD 660 cannot match an underclocked QSD 820, so the QSD 636 is still going to fall short.... and things get embarrassing when you move to the QSD 630 and QSD625 phones that struggle to compete against the performance of the much much older QSD 800. And talking about the S7, the Exynos 8890 version is even faster than the QSD 820 version, and its only about 5% slower than the QSD 835 in practicality, or around 15% slower than the fastest SoC which is the QSD 845... not too shabby. If you doubt this, just try playing emulators, something demanding like a PSP emulator and GTA Vice City is going to be playable on the S7 but not on any midrange devices. That's not even taking the GPU into consideration, or the larger memory, or the faster storage. On top of this, the old camera will still perform better than a midrange new one. Sure, you won't get bokeh/portrait mode... but you will get OIS and superior low-light performance. Lastly let's mention the screen. The latest phone, the S9+ uses a screen that's on-par with the iPhone X in terms of quality/performance. Its slightly better than the S8 screens, and the S8 screen is the same as the one on the S7 (just different aspect ratio).
So overall, you can grab a Samsung S7 (E8890) back in early 2016 for ~600 euros, or in early 2017 for ~400 euros. And lets say you upgrade it to an iPhone/Galaxy in 2019. That's quite good value for 2-3 years of service. Now lets look at the New Nokia 6, which is one of the best midrange devices. It ships in mid-2018 for ~280 euros for the QSD 630/3GB RAM/32GB ROM version. And beside that, its a downgrade in other specs too. So the S7 is definitely the much better value, and a longer surviving phone.
And if you got the Exynos 8890 version, its as fast as the modern phones, plus has r00t access, Clean Android ROMS, plenty of optimisations, and much much better accessory support. The OnePlus One was the king of value, and the OnePlus 3 doing quite well... but eversince they have really fallen behind, and are no longer priced in the midrange segment.
- T
- Trump Fan 1980
- kui
- 27 May 2018
DEAR GSM ARENA: bear in mind that, with products like a Snapdragon 660 and the forthcoming 7 series, the line between midrange and flagship is going to be different, some would argue top of the line middle rangers blur things, and the two are rapidly becoming increasingly closer than ever. I am a flagship kind of guy, but I believe I'll be getting the best middle class possible in the next two years, probably beginning in 2020.
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- Note7 owner
- jxx
- 27 May 2018
Getting a last year flagship for the cost of current mid range is even better. Flagships will always have better LTE speeds, stereo speakers, faster WIFI antennas those unsexy specs are what makes the biggest difference between flagship and mid rangers.
- T
- Trump Fan 1980
- kui
- 27 May 2018
Whyyoubuyphonerinos, 27 May 2018Why do people even buy phones every year ? Buy a mid ranger... moreI haven't been getting rid of old phones. My grandparents owned a number/several paperweights. I relie on old handsets for my paperweight duties.
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- AnonD-735096
- mWN
- 27 May 2018
I think the question is more "flagship every 3 years or mid range every 2 years". Maybe even 4 and 3. I go with midrange every 2 years, but I'm wondering if I shouldn't go for 3 this year, I'm looking into a new phone while perfectly satisfied with my current one which seems... decadent.
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- Anonymous
- IVN
- 27 May 2018
Anonymous, 27 May 2018Mid-range or flagship every 3-5 years. Buy a phone every si... moreXiaomi fans won't understand this
- T
- Trump Fan 1980
- kui
- 27 May 2018
Sadly, neither commentator here made the case for obtaining a so called flagship each year. I went from a S7 Edge, to an Essential PH-1, to an S9. Next year I might go with a Sony or HTC, both of which will be equipped with the Snapdragon 855, SoC, or whatever the 845's successor will be called.
- ?
- Anonymous
- sAZ
- 27 May 2018
Mid-range or flagship every 3-5 years. Buy a phone every single year just plain dumb.
- N
- Nzi97
- tue
- 27 May 2018
Whyyoubuyphonerinos, 27 May 2018Why do people even buy phones every year ? Buy a mid ranger... moreIf they happen to pick the right midranger in the first place, many people cannot read a spec sheet properly, more so on the soc,
A big example is how huawei handle their midranger, i mean a 2 consecutive year midranger with same old chipset but different name and marketing gimmick, phone like that usually won't hold 2 years in it life, update and performance wise
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- Whyyoubuyphonerinos
- iLC
- 27 May 2018
Why do people even buy phones every year ? Buy a mid ranger use it smart and have it for good 3 years.
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- Suarez92
- SnK
- 27 May 2018
In last 2 years I change exactly 13 mobile phones ( Sony Z3 compact, Sony M5, Iphone 5, Iphone 7, Samsung A5 2017, Samsung A8 2018, Huawei P9 Lite, Huawei P9, Huawei P9 Plus, Huawei Mate 9, Huawei p10, Huawei P10 Plus, and now I am using Huawei Mate 10 Pro). I used mid rangers as you see and premium design phones. I work in a mobile shop so I can do experiment with swappin phones every 4 months or less. I used Mate 9 for half year and It was great device with no lagg whatsoever. P10 Plus (5 months) I got rid because of Huawei slow UPDATES. And I swapped for Iphone 7 (3 months) where updates come every month. And then I got back to Huawei and with Mate 10 Pro i think i will stick at least one year. Camera, performance, battery ALL TOP. SO Flagship every 2 year is a good option.
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- AnonD-731363
- SH3
- 27 May 2018
I buy new phone every 2-3 years and always pick chinese over other brands because for much less price it offers same or equal quality.
Had Lenovo Vibeshot before and was 100% satisfied.
Having Moto X4 from release day and is an ultimate phone for hat it offers and its price.
- K
- Klej
- StU
- 27 May 2018
New phone every year for me. Mid ranger or flagship it doesn't matter.
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- Wollywonka
- 3Ux
- 27 May 2018
Flagship at 6 months of its release with discounts. Winwin.